UC-NRLF 


E5Z    Sfll 


•  I 


739 
054- 


RUBAIYAT 


OF 


OMAR    KHAYYAM 

/ 

THE  AS'TRONOMER-POET  OF  PERSIA 


RENDERED  INTO  ENGLISH  VERSE 

BY 

EDWARD  FITZGERALD 


WITH 

A  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE  AND  COPIOUS  NOTES. 


SAN  FRANCISCO  : 

THE  READER'S  LIBRARY. 

1203  Market  Street. 

Issued  Monthly.    Subscription,  83.OO  per  lear. 

VOL.   1.  SEPTEMBER,  1891.  No.  2. 

Entered  at  San  Francisco  Post-0  flee  as  Second-Class  Matter. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM, 


THE  flSTRONOMER-POET  OF  PERSIA. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM  was  born  at  Naishjipur,  in  Khorasan,  in  the 
latter  half  of  our  Eleventh,  and  died  within  the  first  quarter  of 
our  Twelfth  Century.  The  slender  Story  of  his  Life  is  curiously 
twined  about  that  of  two  other  very  considerable  Figures  in  their 
Time  and  Country :  one  of  whom  tells  the  Story  of  all  Three.  This 
was  Nizdm-ul-Mulk,  Vizyr  to  Alp  Arslan  the  Son,  and  Malik  Shah 
the  Grandson,  of  Toghrul  Beg  the  Tartar,  who  had  wrested  Persia 
from  the  feeble  Successor  of  Mahmrid  the  Great,  and  founded  that 
Seljukian  Dynasty  which  finally  roused  Europe  into  the  Crusades. 
This  Nizdm-ul-Mulk,  in  his  Wasiyat — or  Testament — which  he 
wrote  and  left  as  a  Memorial  for  future  Statesmen — relates  the  fol- 
lowing, as  quoted  in  the  Calcutta  Review,  No.  59,  from  Mirkhond's 
History  of  the  Assassins  : — 

"  '  One  of  the  greatest  of  the  wise  men  of  Khorassan  was  the 
Imam  Mowaffak  of  Naishapur,  a  man  highly  honoured  and  rever- 
enced,— may  God  rejoice  his  soul ;  his  illustrious  years  exceeded 
eighty-five,  and  it  was  the  universal  belief  that  every  boy  who 
read  the  Koran  or  studied  the  traditions  in  his  presence,  would 
assuredly  attain  to  honour  and  happiness.  For  this  cause  did  my 
father  send  me  from  Tiis  to  Naish&piir  with  Abd-us-samad,  the 
doctor  of  law,  that  I  might  employ  myself  in  study  and  learning 
under  the  guidance  of  that  illustrious  teacher.  Towards  me  he 
ever  turned  an  eye  of  favour  and  kindness,  and  as  his  pupil,  I  felt 
for  him  an  extreme  affection  and  devotion,  so  that  I  passed  four 
years  in  his  service.  When  I  first  came  there,  I  found  two  other 


4  LIFE  OF 

pupils  of  mine  own  age  newly  arrived,  Hakim  Omar  Khayyam, 
and  the  ill-fated  Ben  Sabbdh.  Both  were  endowed  with  sharpness 
of  wit  and  the  highest  natural  powers ;  and  we  three  formed  a 
close  friendship  together.  When  the  Irna"m  rose  from  his  lectures, 
they  used  to  join  me,  and  we  repeated  to  each  other  the  lessons 
we  had  heard.  Now  Omar  was  a  native  of  Naishsipur,  while  Hasan 
Ben  Sabbdh's  father  was  one  All,  a  man  of  austere  life  and  practice, 
but  heretical  in  his  creed  and  doctrine.  One  day  Hasan  said  to 
me  and  to  Khayyam,  "  It  is  a  universal  belief  that  the  pupils  of  the 
Imdm  Mowaffak  will  attain  to  fortune.  Now,  if  we  all  do  not 
attain  thereto,  without  doubt  one  of  us  will;  what  then  shall 
be  our  mutual  pledge  and  bond?"  We  answered,  "Be  it  what 
you  please."  "  Well,"  he  said,  "  let  us  make  a  vow,  that  to  whom- 
soever this  fortune  falls,  he  shall  share  it  equally  with  the  rest, 
and  reserve  no  pre-eminence  for  himself."  "  Be  it  so,"  we  both  re- 
plied, and  on  those  terms  we  mutually  pledged  our  words.  Years 
rolled  on,  and  I  went  from  Khorassan  to  Transoxiana,  and  wan- 
dered to  Ghazni  and  Cabul ;  and  when  I  returned,  I  was  invested 
with  office,  and  rose  to  be  administrator  of  affairs  during  the  Sul- 
tanate of  Sultan  Alp  Arslan.' 

"  He  goes  on  to  state  that  years  passed  by,  and  both  his  old 
school-friends  found  him  out,  and  came  and  claimed  a  share  in 
his  good  fortune,  according  to  the  school-day  vow.  The  Vizier 
a  generous  and  kept  his  word.  Hasan  demanded  a  place  in 
the  government,  which  the  Sultan  granted  at  the  Vizier's  request ; 
but,  discontented  with  a  gradual  rise,  he  plunged  into  the  maze  of 
intrigue  of  an  oriental  court,  and,  failing  in  a  base  attempt  to  sup- 
plant his  benefactor,  he  was  disgraced  and  fell.  After  many  mis- 
haps and  wanderings,  Hasan  became  the  head  of  the  Persian  sect 
of  the  Ismailians, — a  party  of  fanatics  who  had  long  murmured  in 
obscurity,  but  rose  to  an  evil  eminence  under  the  guidance  of  his 
strong  and  evil  will.  In  A.  D.  1090  he  seized  the  castle  of  Alamut, 
in  the  province  of  Riidbar,  which  lies  in  the  mountainous  tract, 
south  of  the  Caspian  Sea ;  and  it  was  from  this  mountain  home  he 
obtained  that  evil  celebrity  among  the  Crusaders  as  the  OLD  MAN 
OF  THE  MOUNTAINS,  and  spread  terror  through  the  Moham- 
medan world ;  and  it  is  yet  disputed  whether  the  word  Assassin, 
which  they  have  left  in  the  language  of  modern  Europe  as  their 
dark  memorial,  is  derived  from  the  hashish  or  opiate  of  hemp- 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  5 

leaves  (the  Indian  bhang},  with  which  they  maddened  themselves 
to  the  sullen  pitch  of  oriental  desperation,  or  from  the  name  of  the 
founder  of  the  dynasty,  whom  we  have  seen  in  his  quiet  collegiate 
days,  at  Naisha"pur.  One  of  the  countless  victims  of  the  Assassin's 
dagger  was  Niz£m  ul-Mulk,  himself,  the  old  school-boy  friend.* 

"  Omar  Khayyam  also  came  to  the  Vizier  to  claim  the  share; 
but  not  to  ask  for  title  or  office.  '  The  greatest  boon  you  can  con- 
fer on  me/  he  said, '  is  to  let  me  live  in  a  corner  under  the  shadow 
of  your  fortune,  to  spread  wide  the  advantages  of  Science,  and 
pray  for  your  long  life  and  prosperity.'  The  Vizier  tells  us,  that, 
when  he  found  Omar  was  really  sincere  in  his  refusal,  he  pressed 
him  no  further,  but  granted  him  a  yearly  pension  of  twelve  hun- 
dred mithkdls  of  gold,  from  the  treasury  of  Naishdpiir. 

"  At  Naish&piir  thus  lived  and  died  Omar  Khayy&m,  'busied,' 
adds  the  Vizier,  '  in  winning  knowledge  of  every  kind,  and  espec- 
ially in  Astronomy,  wherein  he  attained  to  a  very  high  pre-emin- 
ence. Under  the  Sultanate  of  Malik  Shah,  he  came  to  Merv,  and 
obtained  great  praise  for  his  proficiency  in  science,  and  the  Sultan 
showered  favours  upon  him.' 

"When  Malik  Shah  determined  to  reform  the  calendar,  Omar 
was  one  of  the  eight  learned  men  employed  to  do  it ;  the  result 
was  the  Jaldli  era  (so  called  from  Jalal-u-din,  one  of  the  king's 
names) — '  a  computation  of  time,'  says  Gibbon,  *  which  surpasses 
the  Julian,  and  approaches  the  accuracy  of  the  Gregorian  style.' 
He  is  also  the  author  of  some  astronomical  tables,  entitled  Zfji- 
Malikshahi,  and  the  French  have  lately  republished  and  trans- 
lated an  Arabic  Treatise  of  his  on  Algebra. 

•  "  His  Takhallus  or  poetical  name  (Khayydm)  signifies  a  Tent- 
maker,  and  he  is  said  to  have  at  one  time  exercised  that  trade, 
perhaps  before  Nizam-ul-Mulk's  generosity  raised  him  to  indepen- 
dence. Many  Persian  poets  similarly  derive  their  names  from 
their  occupations;  thus  we  have  Attar  '  a  druggist,'  Assa>  '  an  oil 


*  Some  of  Omar's  Rubaiyat  warn  us  of  the  danger  of -Greatness,  the  instability 
of  Fortune,  and  while  advocating  Charity  to  all  Men,  recommend  us  to  be 
too  intimate  with  none.  Attar  makes  Nizam-ul-Mulk  use  the  very  words  of  his 
friend  Omar  [Rub.  xxviii.]  "  When  Nizam-ul-Mulk  was  in  the  agony  (of  Death) 
he  said, '  O  God  !  I  am  passing  away  in  the  hand  of  the  Wind.'  " 


6  LIFE  OK 

presser,'  etc.*     Omar  himself  alludes  to  his  name  in  the  following 
whimsical  lines: 

"  '  Khayyam,  yho  stitched  the  tents  of  science, 
Has  fallen  in  griefs  furnace  and  been  suddenly  burned  ; 
The  shears  of  Fate  have  cut  the  tent  ropes  of  his  life, 
And  the  broker  of  Hope  has  sold  him  for  nothing  !  ' 

"  We  have  only  one  more  anecdote  to  give  of  his  Life,  and  that 
ivhites  to  the  close;  it  is  told  in  the  anonymous  preface  which  is 
sometimes  prefixed  to  his  poems ;  and  it  has  been  printed  in  the 
Persian  in  the  appendix  to  Hyde's  Veterum  Persarum  Religio,  p. 
4i»i;  and  D'Herbelot  alludes  to  it  in  his  Bibliotheque,  under 
Khiam:  t 

"  'It  is  written  in  the  chronicles  of  the  ancients  that  this  King 
of  the  Wi~e,  Omar  Khayyam,  died  at  Naishapur  in  the  year  of  the 
-ira,  517  (A.  n.  1123) ;  in  science  he  was  unrivalled, — the  very 
paragon  of  his  age.  Khwajah  Nizami  of  Samarcand,  who  was 
one  of  his  pupils,  relates  the  following  story:  "  I  often  used  to 
hold  conversations  with  my  teacher,  OmarKhayydm,  in  a  garden  ; 
and  one  day  he  said  to  me,  '  My  tomb  shall  be  in  a  spot  where  the 
north  wind  may  scatter  roses  over  it.'  I  wondered  at  the  words 
he  spake,  but  I  knew  that  his  were  no  idle  words. t  Years  after, 


*  Though  all  these,  like  our  Smiths,  Archers,  Millers,  Fletchers,  etc..  may  sim- 
ply retain  the  Surname  of  an  hereditary  calling. 

t  "  Philosophe  Musulinan  qui  a  vecu  en  Odeur  de  Saintetg  dans  la  Fiu  du  pre- 
mier et  le  Commencement  du  second  Siecle,"  no  part  of  which,  except  the 
"  Philosophe,"  can  apply  to  our  Khayyam. 

I  The  Rashness  of  the  Words,  according  to  D'Heroelot,  consisted  is  being  so  op- 
posed to  those  in  the  Koran :  "  No  Man  knows  where  he  shall  die."— This  Story 
of  Omar  reminds  me  of  another  so  naturally— and,  when  one  remembers  how 
wide  of  his  humble  mark  the  noble  sailor  aimed— so  pathetically  told  by  Cap- 
tain Cook— not  by  Dr.  Hawkesworth— in  his  second  voyage.  When  leaving  Uii- 
etea,  "  Oreo's  last  request  was  lor  me  to  return,  When  he  saw  he  could  not  ob- 
teviii  that  promise,  he  asked  the  name  of  my  Marai— Bun-ing  place.  As  strange 
a  question  as  this  was,  I  hesitated  not  a  moment  to  tell  him  '  Stepney,'  the  parish 
in  which  I  live  when  in  London.  I  was  made  to  repeat  it  several  times  over  till 
they  could  pronounce  it;  and  then  'Stepney  Marai  no  Tootee'  was  echoed 
through  a  hundred  mouths  at  once.  I  afterwards  found  the  same  question  had 
been  put  to  Mr.  Forster  by  a  man  on  shore  ;  but  he  gave  a  different,  and  indeed 
more  proper  answer,  by  saying,  '  No  man  who  used  the  sea  could  say  where  he 
hould  be  buried.'  " 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  7 

when  I  chanced  to  revisit  Naisha"pur,  I  went  to  his  final  resting- 
place,  and  lo !  it  was  just  outside  a  garden,  and  trees  laden  with 
fruit  stretched  their  boughs  over  the  garden  wall,  and  dropped 
their  flowers  upon  his  tomb,  so  as  the  stone  was  hidden  under 
them.'  " 

Thus  far — without  fear  of  Trespass — from  the  Calcutta,  Review. 
The  writer  of  it,  on  reading  in  India  this  story  of  Omar's  Grave, 
was  reminded,  he  says,  of  Cicero's  Account  of  finding  Archimedes' 
Tomb  at  Syracuse,  buried  in  grass  and  weeds.  I  think  Thorwald- 
sen  desired  to  have  roses  grow  over  him ;  a  wish  religiously  ful- 
filled for  him  to  the  present  day,  I  believe.  However,  to  return 
to  Omar. 

Though  the  Sultan  "  shower 'd  Favours  upon  him,"  Omar's  Epi- 
curean Audacity  of  Thought  and  Speech  caused  him  to  be  regarded 
askance  in  his  own  Time  and  Country.-  He  is  said  to  have  been 
especially  hated  and  dreaded  by  the  Sufis,  whose  practice  he  ridi- 
culed, and  whose  Faith  amounts  to  little  more  than  his  own  when 
stript  of  the  Mysticism  and  formal  recognition  of  Islamrsm  under 
which  Omar  would  not  hide.     Their  Poets,  including  Ha"fiz,  who 
are  (with  the  exception  of  Firdausi)  the  most  considerable  in  Per- 
sia, borrowed  largely,  indeed,  of  Omar's  material,  but  turning  it 
to  a  mystical  Use  more  convenient  to  Themselves  and  the  People 
they  addressed ;  a  People  quite  as  quick  of  Doubt  as  of  Belief ;  as 
keen  of  Bodily  Sense  as  of  Intellectual ;  and  delighting  in  a  cloudy 
composition  of  both,  in  which  they  could  float  luxuriously  between 
Heaven  and  Earth,  and  this  World  and  the  Next,  on  the  wings  of 
a  poetical  expression,  that  might  serve  indifferently  for  either. 
Omar  was  too  honest  of  Heart  as  well  as  of  Head  for  this.     Hav- 
ing failed  (however  mistakenly)  of  finding  any  Providence  but 
Destiny,  and  any  World  but  This,  he  set  about  making  the  most 
of  it ;  preferring  rather  to  soothe  the  Soul  through  the  Senses  into 
Acquiescence  with  Things  as  he  saw  them,  than  to  perplex  it  with 
vain  disquietude  after  what  they  might  be.  It  has  been  seen,  how- 
ever, that  his  Worldly  Ambition  was  not  exorbitant ;  and  he  very 
likely  takes  a  humorous  or  perverse  pleasure  in  exalting  the  grati- 
fication of  Sense  labove  that  of  Intellect,  in  which  he  must  have 
taken  great  delight,  although  it  failed  to  answer  the  questions  in 
which  he,  in  common  with  all  men,  was  most  vitally  interested. 


8  LIFE  OF 

For  whatever  Reason,  however,  Omar,  as  before  said,  has  never 
been  popular  in  his  own  Country,  and  therefore  has  been  but 
scantily  transmitted  abroad.  The  MSS.  of  his  Poems,  mutilated 
beyond  the  average  Casualties  of  Oriental  Transcription,  are  so 
rare  in  the  East  as  scarce  to  have  reacht  Westward  at  all,  in 
spite  of  all  the  acquisitions  of  Arms  and  Science.  There  is  no  copy 
at  the  India  House,  none  at  the  Bibliotheque  Imperiale  of  Paris. 

We  know  but  of  one  in  England:  No.  140  of  the  Ouseley  MSS. 
at  the  Bodleian,  written  at  Shiraz,  A.  D.  1460.  This  contains  but 
153  Rub&iya't.  One  in  the  Asiatic  Society's  Library  at  Calcutta 
(of  which  we  have  a  copy)  contains  (and  yet  incomplete)  516, 
though  swelled  to  that  by  all  kinds  of  Repetition  and  Corruption. 
So  Von  Hammer  speaks  of  his  copy  as  containing  about  200,  while 
Dr.  Sprenger  catalogues  the  Lucknow  MS.  at  double  that  number.* 
The  Scribes,  too,  of  the  Oxford  and  Calcutta  MSS.  seem  to  do 
their  Work  under  a  sort  of  Protest ;  each  beginning  with  a  Tetras- 
tich (whether  genuine  or  not),  taken  out  of  its  alphabetical  order; 
the  Oxford  with  one  of  Apology;  the  Calcutta  witli  one  of  Expos- 
tulation, supposed  (says  a  Notice  prefixed  to  the  MS.)  to  have  ris- 
en from  a  Dream,  in  which  Omar's  mother  asked  about  his  future 
fate.  It  may  be  rendered  thus : 

"  O  Thou  who  burn'st  in  Heart  for  those  who  burn 
In  Hell,  whose  fires  thyself  shall  feed  in  turn  ; 
How  long  be  crying,  '  Mercy  on  them,  God  ! ' 
Why,  who  art  Thou  to  teach,  and  He  to  learn  ?  " 

The  Bodleian  Quatrain  pleads  Pantheism  by  way  of  Justifica- 
tion : — 

"  If  I  myself  upon  a  loosr  Creed 
Have  loosely  stiung  the  Jewel  of  Good  deed, 
Let  this  one  thing  for  my  Atonement  plead  : 
That  One  for  Two  I  never  did  mis-read." 

The  Reviewer,  to  whom  I  owe  the  particulars  of  Omar's  Life, 
concludes  his  Review  by  comparing  him  with  Lucretius,  both  as 

*  "  Since  this  Paper  was  written  (adds  the  Reviewer  in  a  note),  we  have  met 
with  a  copy  of  a  very  rare  Edition,  printed  at  Calcutta  in  1836.  This  contains  438 
tetrastichs,  with  an  Appendix  containing  54  others  not  found  in  some  MSS." 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  9 

to  Natural  Temper  and  Genius,  and  as  acted  upon  by  the  Circum- 
stances in  which  he  lived.  Both  indeed  were  men  of  subtle,  strong 
and  cultivated  Intellect,  fine  Imagination,  aud  Hearts  passionate 
for  Truth  and  Justice ;  who  justly  revolted  from  their  Country's 
false  Keligion,  and  false,  or  foolish  Devotion  to  it;  but  who  yet  fell 
short  of  replacing  what  they  subverted  by  such  better  Hope  as 
others,  with  no  better  Revelation  to  guide  them,  had  yet  made  a 
Law  to  themselves.  Lucretius,  indeed,  with  such  material  as  Epi- 
curus furnished,  satisfied  himself  with  the  theory  of  so  vast  a  ma- 
chine fortuitously  constructed,  and  acting  by  a  Law  that  implied 
no  Legislator ;  and  so  composing  himself  into  a  Stoical  rather  than 
Epicurean  severity  of  Attitude,  sat  down  to  contemplate  the  me- 
chanical Drama  of  the  Universe  which  he  was  part  Actor  in  ;  him- 
self and  all  about  him  (as  in  his  own  sublime  description  of  the 
Roman  Theatre)  discoloured  with  the  lurid  reflex  of  the  Curtain 
suspended  between  the  Spectator  and  the  Sun.  Omar,  more  des- 
perate, or  more  careless  of  any  so  complicated  System  as  resulted 
in  nothing  but  hopeless  Necessity,  flung  his  own  Genius  and 
Learning  with  a  bitter  or  humorous  jest  into  the  general  Ruin 
which  their  insufficient  glimpses  only  served  to  reveal ;  and,  pre- 
tending sensual  pleasure  as  the  serious  purpose  of  Life,  only  di- 
verted himself  with  speculative  problems  of  Deity,  Destiny,  Matter 
and  Spirit,  Good  and  Evil,  and  other  such  questions,  easier  to 
start  than  to  run  down,  and  the  pursuit  of  which  becomes  a  very 
weary  sport  at  last ! 

With  regard  to  the  present  Translation.  The  original  Ruba'iya't 
(as,  missing  an  Arabic  Guttural,  these  Tetrastichs  are  more  music- 
ally called)  are  independent  Stanzas,  consisting  each  of  four  Lines 
of  equal,  though  varied,  Prosody ;  sometimes  all  rhyming,  but  of- 
tener  (as  here  imitated)  the  third  line  a  blank.  Something  as  in 
the  Greek  Alcaic,  where  the  penultimate  line  seems  to  lift  and 
suspend  the  Wave  that  falls  over  in  the  last.  As  usual  with  such 
kind  of  Oriental  Verse,  the  Ruba'iya't  follow  one  another  according 
to  Alphabetic  Rhyme — a  strange  succession  of  Grave  and  Gay. 
Those  kere  selected  are  strung  into  something  of  an  Eclogue,  with 
perhaps  a  less  than  equal  proportion  of  the  "  Drink  and  make- 
merry,"  which  (genuine  or  not)  recurs  over-frequently  in  the  Orig- 
inal. Either  way,  the  Result  is  sad  enough:  saddest,  perhaps, 
when  most  ostentatiously  merry  :  more  apt  to  move  Sorrow  than 
Anger  toward  the  old  Tentmaker,  who,  after  vainly  endeavoring 


f  OP  TnJl  *- 

(UNIVERSITY  \ 


10  LIFE  OF  • 

to  unshackle  his  Steps  from  Destiny,  and  to  catch  some  authentic 
Glimpse  of  TO-MORROW,  fell  back  upon  TO-DAY  (which  has  outlast" 
ed  so  many  To-morrows !)  as  the  only  Ground  he  got  to  stand  upon, 
however  momentarily  slipping  from  under  his  Feet. 


While  the  second  Edition  of  this  version  of  Omar  was  preparing, 
Monsieur  Nicolas,  French  Consul  at  Resht.  published  a  very 
careful  and  very  good  Edition  of  the  Text,  from  a  lithograph  copy 
at  Teheran,  comprising  464  Rubaiyat,  with  translation  and  notes 
of  his  own. 

Monsieur  Nicolas,  whose  Edition  has  reminded  me  of  several 
things,  and  instructed  me  in  others,  does  not  consider  Omar  to  be 
the  material  Epicurean  that  I  have  literally  taken  him  for,  but  a 
Mystic,  shadowing  the  Deity  under  the  figure  of  Wine, Wine-bear- 
er, etc.,  as  Hafiz  is  supposed  to  do;  in  short,  a  Sufi  Poet  like  Ha- 
fiz  and  the  rest . 

1  cannot  see  reason  to  alter  my  opinion,  formed  as  it  was  more 
than  a  dozen  years  ago  when  Omar  was  first  shown  me  by  one  to 
whom  I  am  indebted  for  all  I  know  of  Oriental,  and  very  much  of 
other,  literature.  He  admired  Omar's  Genius  so  much,  that  he 
would  gladly  have  adopted  any  such  Interpretation  of  his  mean- 
ing as  Monsieur  Nicolas,  if  he  could.*  That  he  could  not,  appears 
by  his  Paper  in  the  Calcutta  Renew  already  so  largely  quoted  ;  in 
which  he  argues  from  the  Poems  themselves,  as  well  as  from  what 
records  remain  of  the  Poet's  Life.  And  if  more  were  needed  to 
disprove  Monsieur  Nicolas'  theory,  there  is  the  Biographical  No- 
tice which  he  himself  has  drawn  up  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
Interpretation  of  the  Poems  given  in  his  Notes.  (See  pp.  13-14  of 
his  Preface).  Indeed  I  hardly  knew  poor  Omar  was  so  far  gone 
till  his  Apologist  informed  me.  For  here  we  see  that,  whatever 
were  the  Wine  that  Hafiz  drank  and  sang,  the  veritable  Juice  of 
the  Grape  it  was  which  Omar  used,  not  only  when  carousing  with 
his  friends,  but  (says  Monsieur  Nicolas)  in  order  to  excite  himself 
to  that  pitch  of  Devotion  which  others  reached  by  cries  and  "  hur- 


*  Perhaps  \vo\ild  have  edited  the  Poems  himself  some  years  ago.  He  may  now 
as  little  approve  of  my  Version  on  one  side,  as  of  Monsieur  Nicolas'  Theory  on 
the  other. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  11 

lemens."  And  yet,  whenever  Wine,  Wine-bearer,  etc.,  occur  in 
the  Text— which  is  often  enough — Monsieur  Nicolas  carefully  an- 
notates "  Dieu,"  "  La  Divimte","  etc. :  so  carefully  indeed  that  one 
is  tempted  to  think  that  he  was  indoctrinated  by  the  Sufi  with 
whom  he  read  the  Poems.  (Note  to  Rub.  ii.  p.  8).  A  Persian 
would  naturally  wish  to  vindicate  a  distinguished  Countryman ; 
and  a  Stifi  to  enrol  him  in  his  own  sect,  which  already  comprises 
all  the  chief  Poets  of  Persia. 

What  historical  Authority  has  Monsieur  Nicolas  to  show  that 
Omar  gave  himself  up,  "avec  passion  £T6tude  de  la  philosophic 
des  Soufis?"  (Preface,  p.  xiii.)  The  Doctrines  of  Pantheism, 
Materialism,  Necessity,  etc.,  were  not  peculiar  to  the  Siifi ;  nor  to 
Lucretius  before  them ;  nor  to  Epicurus  before  him  ;  probably  the 
very  original  Irreligion  of  Thinking  men  from  the  first ;  and  very 
likely  to  be  the  spontaneous  growth  of  a  Philosopher  living  in  an 
Age  of  social  and  political  barbarism,  under  shadow  of  one  of  the 
Two  and  Seventy  Religions  supposed  to  divide  the  world.  Von 
Hammer  (according  to  Sprenger's  Oriental  Catalogue)  speaks  of 
Omar  as  "a  Free-thinker,  and  a  great  opponent  of  Sufism;  "  perhaps 
because,  while  holding  much  of  their  Doctrine,  he  would  not  pre- 
tend to  any  inconsistent  severity  of  morals.  Sir  W.  Ouseley  has 
written  a  Note  to  something  of  the  same  effect  on  the  fly-leaf  of 
the  Bodleian  MS.  And  in  two  Rubdiydt  of  Monsieur  Nicolas'  own 
edition  Siif  and  Sufi  are  both  disparagingly  named. 

No  doubt  many  of  these  Quatrains  seem  unaccountable  unless 
mystically  interpreted ;  but  many  more  as  unaccountable  unless  , 
literally.  Were  the  Wine  spiritual,  for  instance,  how  wash  the 
Body  with  it  when  dead  ?  Why  make  cups  of  the  dead  clay  to  be 
filled  with — "La  Divinit6  " — by  some  succeeding  Mystic?  Mon- 
sieur Nicolas  himself  is  puzzled  by  some  "  bizarres  "  and  "  trop 
Orientales"  allusions  and  images — "  d'une  sensualit6  quelquefois 
re"voltante,"  indeed— which  "lea  convenances"  do  not  permit 
him  to  translate ;  but  still  which  the  reader  cannot  but  refer  to 
"La  Divinite."  *  No  doubt  also  many  of  the  Quatrains  in  the 


*  A  Note  to  Quatrain  234  admits  that  however  clear  the  mystical  meaning  of 
such  Images  must  be  to  Europeans,  they  are  not  quoted  without  "  rougissant  '» 
even  by  laymen  in  Persia—"  Quant  aux  termes  de  tendresse  qui  commencent  ce 
quatrain,  comme  tant  d'autres  dans  ce  recueil,  nos  lectuers,  habitues  maintenant 


12  LIFE  OF 

Teheran,  as  in  the  Calcutta,  Copies,  are  spurious;  such  Rulwyat 
being  the  common  form  of  Epigram  in  Persia.  But  this,  at  best, 
tells  as  much  one  way  as  another;  nay,  the  Sufi,  who  may  be  con- 
sidered the  Scholar  and  Man  of  Letters  in  Persia,  would  be  far  more 
likely  than  the  careless  Epicure  to  interpolate  what  favours  his  own 
view  of  the  Poet.  I  observe  that  very  few  of  the  more  mystical 
Quatrains  are  in  the  Bodleian  MS.  which  must  be  one  of  the  old- 
est, as  dated  at  Shirax,  A.  n.  8(35,  A.  D.  14l>0.  And  this,  I  think, 
illy  distinguishes  Omar  (I  cannot  help  calling  him  by  his — 
no,  not  Christian — familiar  name)  from  all  other  Persian  Poets: 
That  whereas  with  them  the  Poet  is  lost  in  his  Song,  the  Man  in 
Allegory  and  Abstraction ;  we  seem  to  have  the  Man — the  Bon- 
homme  Omar  himself,  with  all  his  Humours  and  Passions,  as 
frankly  before  us  as  if  we  were  really  at  Table  with  him,  after  the 
AVine  had  gone  round. 

I  must  say  that  I,  for  one,  never  wholly  believed  in  the  Mysti- 
cism of  Hafiz.  It  does  not  appear  there  was  any  danger  in  holding 
and  singing  Sufi  Pantheism,  so  long  as  the  Poet  made  his  Salaam 
to  Mohammed  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  his  Song.  Under  such 
conditions  Jelaluddin,  Janii,  Attar,  and  others  sang;  using  Wine, 
and  Beauty  indeed  as  Images  to  illustrate,  not  as  a  Mask  to  hide 
the  Divinity  they  were  celebrating.  Perhaps  some  Allegory  less 
liable  to  mistake  or  abuse  had  been  better  among  so  inflammable 
a  People:  much  more  so  when,  as  some  think  with  Hafiz  and 
Omar,  the  abstract  is  not  only  likened  to,  but  indentified  with,  the 
sensual  Image ;  hazardous,  if  not  to  the  Devotee  himself,  yet  to  his 
weaker  Brethren ;  and  worse  for  the  Profane  in  proportion  as  the 
Devotion  of  the  Initiated  grew  warmer.  And  all  for  what  ?  To 
be  tantalized  with  Images  of  sensual  enjoyment  which  must  be 
renounced  if  one  would  approximate  a  God,  who,  according  to  the 
Doctrine,  is  Sensual  Matter  as  well  as  Spirit,  and  into  whose  Uni- 
verse one  expects  unconsciously  to  merge  after  Death,  without 
hope  of  any  posthumous  Beatitude  in  another  world  to  compen- 


&  l'£tranget£  de3  expressions  si  souvent  employes  par  Kheyam  pour  rendre  ses 
pens£es  sur  Tamour  divin,  et  &  la  singularity  des  knages  trop  orientales,  d'une 
sensualite  quelquefois  revoltante,  n'auront  pas  de  peine  a  se  persuader  qu'il  s'a- 
git  de  la  Divinite,  bien  que  cette  convictions  oit  vivement  discutee  par  les  moul- 
lahs  musulmans,  et  m&ne  par  beaucoup  de  laiques,  qui  rougissent  veritable- 
ment  d'une  pareille  JJcence  de  leur  compatriote  &  regard  des  choses  spirituelles.' ' 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  13 

| 

sate  for  all  one's  self-denial  in  this.  Lucretius'  blind  Divinity  cer- 
tainly merited,  and  probably  got,  as  much  self-sacrifice  as  this  of 
the  Sufi ;  and  the  burden  of  Omar's  song — if  not  "  Let  us  eat  "—is 
assuredly—  "  Let  us  drink,  for  To-morrow  we  die !  "  And  if  Ha"fiz 
meant  quite  otherwise  by  a  similar  language,  he  surely  miscalcu- 
lated when  he  devoted  his  Life  and  Genius  to  so  equivocal  a  Psalm- 
ody as,  from  his  Day  to  this,  has  been  said  and  sung  by  any  rath- 
er than  spiritual  Worshipers. 

However,  as  there  is  some  traditional  presumption,  and  certain- 
ly the  opinion  of  some  learned  men,  in  favor  of  Omar's  being  a 
Sufi, — and  even  something  of  a  Saint, — those  who  please  may  so 
interpret  his  Wine  and  Cup-bearer.  On  the  other  hand,  as  there 
is  far  more  historical  certainty  of  his  being  a  Philosopher,  of  Scien- 
tific Insight  and  ability  far  beyond  that  of  the  Age  and  Country 
he  lived  in ;  of  such  moderate  worldly  Ambition  as  becomes  a 
Philosopher,  and  such  moderate  wants  as  rarely  satisfy  a  Debau- 
chee ;  other  readers  may  be  content  to  believe  with  me  that,  while 
the  Wine  Omar  celebrates  is  simply  the  Juice  of  the  Grape,  he 
bragg'd  more  than  he  drank  of  it,  in  very  Defiance  perhaps  of  that 
Spiritual  Wine  which  left  its  Votaries  sunk  in  Hypocrisy  or  Dis- 
gust. 


r  r 


RUBAIYAT 


—  OF- 


OMAR   KHAYYAM 


RUB  AlYAT. 


WAKE!     For  the  Sun,  who  scatter'd  into  Flight 
The  Stars  before  him  from  the  Field  of  Night, 

Drives  Night  along  with  them  from  Heav'n,  and  strikes 
The  Sultan's  Turret  with  a  Shaft  of  Light. 


ii. 


Before  the  phantom  of  False  morning  died,  l 
Methought  a  Voice  within  the  Tavern  cried, 

"  When  all  the  Temple  is  prepared  within, 
Why  nods  the  drowsy  Worshiper  outside  ?  " 

j 

And,  as  the  Cock  crew,  those  who  stood  before       *^ 
The  Tavern  shouted — "  Open  then  the  door  ! 
You  know  how  little  while  we  have  to  stay, 
And,  once  departed,  may  return  no  more." 


18  liUBAIYAT    OF 


Now  the  New  Year  reviving  old  Desires,  2 
The  thoughtful  Soul  to  Solitude  retires, 

Where  the  WHITE  HAND  OF  MOSES  on  the  Bough 
Puts  out,  and  Jesus  from  the  Ground  suspires.  3 


v. 


Irani  indeed  is  gone  with  all  his  Eose,  4 

And  Jamshyd's  Sev'n-ring'd  Cup  where  no  one  knows  : 

But  still  a  Ruby  "gushes  from  the  Vine, 
And  many  a  Garden  by  the  Water  blows. 


VI. 


And  David's  lips  are  lockt  ;  but  in  divine  5 

High- piping  Pehlevi,  with  "  Wine  !  Wine  !  Wine  ! 

Red  Wine  ! " — the  Nightingale  cries  to  the  Rose 
That  sallow  cheek  6  of  hers  to'incarnadine. 


VII. 


Come,  fill  the  Cup,  and  in  the  fire  of  Spring 
Your  Winter-garment  of  Repentance  fling  : 

The  Bird  of  Time  has  but  a  little  way 
To  flutter— and  the  Bird  is  on  the  Wing. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM^*^  19 

UNIVERSITY 

VIII. 


Whether  at  Naishapur  or  Babylon, 
Whether  the  Cup  with  sweet  or  bitter  run, 

The  Wine  of  Life  keeps  oozing  drop  by  drop,  :J  / 
The  Leaves  of  Life  keep  falling  one  by  one. 


IX. 


Each  Morn  a  thousand  Eoses  brings,  you  say  \\ 
Yes,  but  where  leaves  .the  Rose  of  Yesterday  ?J 

And  this  first  Summer  month  that  brings  the  Rose 
Shall  take  Jamshyd  and  Kaikobad  away. 


x. 


Well,  let  it  take  them  !     What  have  we  to  do 
With  Kaikobad  the  Great,  or  Kaikhosrii  ? 

Let  Zal  and  Rustum  thunder  as  they  will,  7 
Or  Hatim  call  to  Supper — heed  not  you. 


XI. 


With  me  along  the  strip  of  Herbage  strown 
That  just  divides  the  desert  from  the  sown, 

Where  name  of  Slave  and  Sultan  is  forgot — 
And  peace  to  Mahmud  on  his  golden  throne  ! 


20  KlBAIYAT    OF 


XII. 

/A  Book  of  Verses  underneath  the  Bough, 
A  Jug  of  AVine,  a  Loaf  of  Bread — and  Thou 

Beside  me  singing  in  the  Wilderness— 
Oh,  Wilderness  were  Paradise  CDOW  ! 


XIII 

Some  for  the  Glories  of  This  World  ;  and  some  i 
Sigh  for  the  Prophet's  Paradise  to  coiae  ; 

Ah,  take  the  Cash,  and  let  the  Credit  go, 
Nor  heed  the  rumble  of  a  distant  Drum  !  8 


XIV. 

L.;ok  to  the  blowing  Rose  about  us — "  Lo, 
Laughing,"  she  says,  "into  the  world  I  blow. 

once  the  silken  tassel  of  my  Purse 
r,  and  its  Treasure  on  the  Garden  throw."  9 


xv. 

And  those  who  husbanded  the  Golden  grain,      •. 
And  those  who  flung  it  to  the  winds  like  Rain, 
Alike  to  no  such  aureate  Earth  are  turn'd 
buried  once,  Men  want  dug  up  again. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  23 

J 

xvi.  * 

The  Worldly  Hope  men  set  their  Hearts  upon 
Turns  Ashes — or  it  prospers  ;  and  anon, 

Like  Snow  upon  the  Desert's  dusty  Face, 
Lighting  a  little  hour  or  two — was  gone. 


XVII. 


Think,  in  this  batter' d  Caravansera 
Whose  Portals  are  alternate  Night 

How  Sultan  after  Sultan  with 
Abode  his  destin'd  Hour,  and  went  his  way. 


XVIII. 


They  say  the  Lion  and  the  Lizard  keep 

The  Courts  where  Jamshyd  gloried  and  drank  deep  :  10 

And  Bahrdm,  that  great  Hunter — the  Wild  Ass 
Stamps  o'er  his  Head,  but  cannot  break  his  Sleep. 


XIX. 


I  sometimes  think  that  never  blows  so  red 
The  Rose  as  where  some  buried  Caesar  bled  ; 

That  every  Hyacinth  the  Garden  wears 
Dropt  in  her  Lap  from  some  once  lovely  Head. 


22  Kl'BAIYAT    OF 


And  this  reviving  Herb  whose  tender  Green 
Fledges  the  Kiver-Lip  on  which  we  lean — 
Ah,  lean  upon  it  lightly  !  for  who  knows 
From  what  once  lovely  Lip  it  springs  unseen  ! 


, 


XXI. 


Ah,  my  Beloved,  fill  the  cup  that  clears 

TO-DAY  of  past  Regret  and  future  Fears  :  / 

To-morrow  ' — Why,  To-morrow  I  may  bo 
Myself  with  Yesterday's  Sev'n  thousand  Years.  u 


XXII. 


For  some  we  loved,  the  loveliest  and  the  best 
That  from  his  Vintage  rolling  Time  has  prest, 

Have  drunk  their  Cup  a  Round  or  two  before, 
And  one  by  one  crept  silently  to  rest. 


XXIII. 

And  we,  that  now  make  merry  in  the  Room 
They  left,  and  Summer  dresses  in  new  bloom, 

Ourselves  must  we  beneath  the  Couch  of  Earth 
Descend — ourselves  to  make  a  Couch  —for  whom  ? 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  23 


XXIV. 


Ah,  make  the  most  of  what  we  yet  may  spend, 
Before  we  too  into  the  Dust  descend  ; 

Dust  into  Dust,  and  under  Dust,  to  lie, 
Sans  Wine,  sans  Song,  sans  Singer,  and— sans  End  ! 


xxv. 


Alike  for  those  who  for  TO-DAY  prepare, 
And  those  that  after  some  TO-MOEKOW  stare, 

A  Muezzin  from  the  Tower  of  Darkness  cries, 
"  Fools,  your  Reward  is  neither  Here  nor  There." 


XXVI.  , 

Why,  all  the  Saints  and  Sages  who  discuss'd 
Of  the  Two  Worlds  so  learnedly  are  thrust 

Like  foolish  Prophets  forth  ;  their  Words  to  Scorn 
Are  scatter' d,  and  their  Mouths  are  stopt  with  Dust. 

to 

XXVII. 

Myself  when  young  did  eagerly  frequent 
Doctor  and  Saint,  and  heard  great  argument 

About  it  and  about  :  but  evermore 
Came  out  by  the  same  door  where  in  I  went. 


L'4  RUBAIYAT    OF 


XXVIII. 

"\Vith  them  the  seed  of  Wisdom  did  I  sow, 

And  with  my  own  hand  wrought  to  make  it  grow  ; 

And  this  was  all  the  Harvest  that  I  reap'd — 
"  I  came  like  Water,  and  like  Wind  I  go." 


\  xxix.      V/ 

Into  this  Universe,  and  Why  not  knowing, 
Nor  Whence,  like  Water  willy-nilly  flowing  ; 

And  out  of  it,  as  Wind  along  the  Waste, 
I  know  not  Whither,  willy-nilly  blowing. 


XXX. 

,at,  without  asking,  hither  hurried  Whence? 
A 'id,  without  asking,  ^Whither  hurried  hence  ! 

O,  many  a  Cup  of  this  forbidden  Wine 
Must  drown  the  memory  of  that  insolence  ! 


XXXI. 

Up  from  Earth's  Centre  through  the  Seventh  Gate 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Throne  of  Saturn  sate,  12 

And  many  a  Knot  unravell'd  by  the  Road  ; 
But  not  the  Master-knot  of  Human  Fate. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  25 

- 


XXXII. 

There  was  the  Door  to  which  I  found  no  Key  ; 
There  was  the  Veil  through  which  I  could  not  see  : 

Some  little  talk  awhile  of  ME  and  THEE 
There  was — and  then  no  more  of  THEE  and  ME.  13 


\x 


XXXIII. 

V 


Earth  could  not  answer  ;  nor  the  Seas  that  mourn 
In  flowing  Purple,  of  their  Lord  forlorn  ; 

Nor  rolling  Heaven,  with  all  his  Signs  reveal' d 
And  hidden  by  the  sleeve  of  Night  and  Morn. 


xxxiv. 


Then  of  the  THEE  IN  ME  who  works  behind 
The  Veil,  I  lifted  up  my  hands  to  find 

A  Lamp  amid  the  Darkness  ;  and  I  heard, 
As  from  Without — "  THE  ME  WITHIN  THEE  BLIND  !  " 


xxxv. 


Then  to  the  Lip  of  this  poor  earthen  Urn  / 

I  lean'd,  the  Secret  of  my  Life  to  learn  : 

And  Lip  to  Lip  it  murmur' d — "  While  you  live 
Drink  '.—for,  once  dead,  you  never  shall  return." 


26  RUBAIYAT    OF 


XXXVI. 


I  think  the  Vessel,  that  with  fugitive 
Articulation  answer' d,  once  did  iive, 

And  drink  ;  and  Ah  !  the  passive  Lip  I  kiss'd, 
How  many  Kisses  might  it  take — and  give  ! 


XXXVII. 


For  I  remember  stopping  by  the  way 

To  watch  a  Potter  thumping  his  wet  Clay  : 

And  with  its  all -obliterated  Tongue 
It  murmur' d — "  Gently,  Brother,  gently,  pray  !  "  u 


XXXVIII. 

Listen — a  moment  listen  ! — Of  the  same 

Poor  Earth  from  which  that  Human  Whisper  came 

The  luckless  Mould  in  which  Mankind  was  cast 
They  did  compose  and  call  him  by  the  name. 


xxxix. 

And  not  a  drop  from  our  Cups  we  throw  15 
For  Earth  to  drink,  but  may  steal  below 

To  quench  the  fire  of  Anguish  in  some  Eye 
There  hidden- — far  beneath,  and  long  ago. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM. 


XL. 


A»d  then  the  Tulip  for  her  morning  sup 
Of  Heav'nly  Vintage  from  the  soil  looks  up, 

Do  you  devoutly  do  the  like,  till  Heav'n 
To  Earth  in^rt  you  like  an  empty  Cup. 


XLI. 


Perplext  no  more  with  Human  or  Divine, 
To-morrow's  tangle  to  the  winds  resign, 
And  lose  your  fingers  in  the  tresses  of 
The  Cypress-slender  Minister  of  Wine. 


XLII. 


And  if  the  Wine  you  drink,  the  Lip  you  press, 
End  in  what  All,  begins  and  ends  in  —  Yes  ; 

Think  then  you  are  TO-DAY  what  YESTERDAY 
You  were  —  TO-MORROW  you  shall  not  be  less. 


XLIII. 


So  when  the  Angel  of  the  darker  Drink 
At  last  shall  find  you  by  the  river-  brink, 

And,  offering  his  Cup,  invite  your  Soul 
Forth  to  your  Lips  to  quaff  —  you  shall  not  shrink.  16 


28  RUBAIYAT    OF 


XLIV. 


Why,  if  the  Soul  can  fling  the  Dust  aside, 
And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven  ride, 

Wer't  not  a  Shame — wer't  not  a  Shame  for  him 
In  this  clay  carcase  crippled  to  abide  ? 


XLV. 


'T  is  but  a  Tent  where  takes  his  one-day's  rest 
A  Sultan  to  the  realm  of  Death  addrest ; 

The  Sultan  rises,  and  the  dark  Ferrash 
Strikes,  and  prepares  it  for  another  Guest 


XL  VI. 


And  fear  not  lest  Existence  closing  your 
Account,  and  mine,  should  know  the  like  no  more  ; 

The  Eternal  Saki  from  that  bowl  has  pour  d 
Millions  of  Bubbles  like  us,  and  will  pour. 


XLVII. 


When  You  and  I  behind  the  Veil  are  past, 

Oh  but  the  long,  long  while  the  World  shall  last. 

Which  of  our  Coming  and  Departure  heeds 
As  the  SEV'N  SEAS  should  heed  a  pebble  cast. 


\ 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  29 


XLVIII. 


A  Moment's  Halt — a  momentary  taste 
Of  BEING  from  the  Well  amid  the  Waste — 

And  Lo  ! — the  phantom  Caravan  has  reach' d 
The  NOTHING  it  set  out  from — Oh,  make  haste  ! 


XLIX. 


Wrould  you  that  spangle  of  Existence  spend 
About  THE  SECEET — quick  about  it,  Friend  ! 

A  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False  and  True — 
And  upon  what,  prithee,  does  Life  depend  ? 


A  Hair  perhaps  divides  the  False  and  True  ; 
Yes  ;  and  a  single  Alif  were  the  clue — 

Could  you  but  find  it — to  the  Treasure-house, 
And  peradventure  to  THE  MASTER  too, 


LI. 


Whose  secret  Presence,  through  Creation's  veins 
Running  Quicksilver-like,  eludes  your  pains  ; 

Taking  all  shapes  from  Man  to  Mahi  ;  17  and 
They  change  and  perish  all — but  He  remains  ; 


30  Rl'BAIYAT    OF 


LII. 


A  moment  guess' d— then  back  behind  the  Fold 
Imrnerst  of  Darkness  round  the  Drama  roll'd 

AVhich,  for  the  Pastime  of  Eternity, 
He  does  Himself  contrive,  enact,  behold. 


LIII. 


But  if  in  vain,  down  on  the  stubborn  floor 

Of  Earth,  and  up  to  Heav'n's  unopening  Door, 

You  gaze  TO-DAY,  while  You  are  You — how  then 
TO-MORROW,  You  when  shall  be  You  no  more? 


LIV. 


Waste  not  your  Hour,  nor  in  the  vain  pursuit 
Of  This  and  That  endeavour  and  dispute  ; 
Better  be  jocund  with  the  fruitful  Grape 
Than  sadden  after  none,  or  bitter,  Fruit. 


LV. 


You  know,  my  Friends,  with  what  a  brave  Carouse 
I  made  a  Second  Marriage  in  my  house  ; 

Divorced  old  barren  Reason  from  my  Bed, 
And  took  the  Daughter  of  the  Vine  to  Spouse. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  31 


For  "  Is  "  and  "  IS-NOT  "  though  with  Rule  and  Line,18 
And  "  UP-AND-DOWN  "  by  Logic  I  define, 

Of  all  that  one  should  care  to  fathom,  I 
Was  never  deep  in  anything  but — Wine. 


LVII. 

Ah,  but  my  Computations,  People  say, 
Reduced  the  Year  to  better  reckoning  ? — Nayr 

'T  was  only  striking  from  the  Calendar 
Unborn  To-morrow,  and  dead  Yesterday. 


LVIII. 

And  lately,  by  the  Tavern  Door  agape, 

Came  shining  through  the  Dusk  an  Angel  Shape 

Bearing  a  Vessel  on  his  Shoulder  :  and 
He  bid  me  taste  of  it  ;  and  't  was — the  Grape  ! 


LIX. 

The  Grape  that  can  with  Logic  absolute 
The  Two-and- Seventy  jarring  Sects  confute  : 

The  sovereign  Alchemist  that  in  a  trice 
Life's  leaden  metal  into  Gold  transmi 


OF  THB 

UNIVERSITY 

Of  ^rrrrr, 


32  RUBAIYAT   OF 


LX. 


The  mighty  Mahmud,  Allah-breathing  Lord, 
That  all  the  misbelieving  and  black  Horde  2° 
Of  Fears  and  Sorrows  that  infest  the  Soul 
Scatters  before  him  with  his  whirlwind  sword. 


LXI. 


AVhv,  be  this  Juice  the  growth  of  God,  who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  twisted  tendril  as  a  Snare  ? 

A  Blessing,  we  should  use  it,  should  we  not  ? 
And  if  a  Curse — why,  then,  Who  set  it  there  ? 


LXII. 


I  must  abjure  the  Balm  of  Life,  I  must, 
Scared  by  some  After-reckoning  ta'en  on  trust, 
Or  lured  with  Hope  of  some  Diviner  Drink, 
To  fill  the  Cup  —when  crumbled  into  Dust  ! 


LXIII. 


O  threats  of  Hell  and  hopes  of  Paradise  ! 
One  thing  at  least  is  certain, — This  Life  flies  ; 

One  thing  is  certain  and  the  rest  is  Lies  ; 
The  Flower  that  once  has  blown  forever  dies. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM. 


LXIV. 

Strange,  is  it  not?  that  Q£  the  .myriads  who 
Before  us  pass'd  the  door  of  Darkness  through 

Not  one  retnitoM  tell  us  of  the  Road, 
Which  to  discover  we  must  travel  too. 


LXV. 

The  Revelations  of  Devout  and  Learn' d 
Who  rose  before  us,  and  as  Prophets  burn'd, 

Are  all  but  Stories,  which,  awoke  from  Sleep 
They  told  their  fellows,  and  to  Sleep  return' d. 


LXVI. 


I  sent  my  Soul  through  the  Invisible, 
Some  letter  of  that  After-life  to  spell  ; 

And  by  and  by  my  Soul  return'd  to  me, 
And  answer'd  "  I  Myself  anTHeav'n  and  Hell." 


LXVII. 

Heav'n  but  the  Vision  of  fulfill'd  Desire, 
And  Hell  the  Shadow  of  a  Soul  on  fire, 

Cast  on  the  Darkness  into  which  Ourselves, 
So  late  emerg'd  from,  shall  so  soon  expire. 


34  Rl'BAIYAT    OF 

J 

LXVIII. 

We  are  no  other  than  a  moving  row 
Of  Magic  Shadow  -shapes  that  come  an 

Round  with  this  Sun-illumin'd  lantern  held 
In  Midnight  1  r  of  the  Show  ;  21 

' 

LXIX. 

rnt  Pieces  of  the  Game  He  plays 
this  Checker-board  of  Nights  and  Days  ; 
ther  and  thither  moves,  and  checks,  and  slays, 
one  by  one  back  in  the  Closet  lays. 


• 

HL 


LXX. 

The  Ball  no  question  makes  of  Ayes  and  Noes 
But  Right  or  Left  as  strikes  the  Player  goes  ; 
And  He  that  toss'd  you  down  into  the  Field, 
He  knows  about  it  all — HE  knows — HE  knows  !  - 


LXXI. 


The  Moving  Finger  writes  ;  and,  having  writ, 
Moves  on  ;  nor  all  your  Piety  nor  Wit 

Shall  lure  it  back  to  cancel  half  a  Line, 
Nor  all  your  Tears  wash  out  a  AVord  of  it. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  35 


LXXII. 


And  that  inverted  Bowl  they  call  the  Sky, 
Whereunder  crawling  coop'd  we  live  and  die, 

Lift  not  your  hands  to  It  for  help — for  it 
As  impofcently  rolls  as  you  or  I. 


LXXIII. 


With  Earth's  first  Clay  They  did  the  Last  Man  knead, 
And  there  of  the  Last  Harvest  sow'd  the  Seed  : 

And  the  first  Morning  of  Creation  wrote 
When  the  Last  Dawn  of  Reckoning  shall  read. 


LXXIV. 


Yesterday  This  Day's  Madness  did  prepare  ; 
To-Morrow's  Silence,  Triumph,  or  Despair  : 

Drink  !  for  you  know  not  whence  you  came,  nor  why 
Drink  !  for  you  know  not  why  you  go,  nor  where. 


LXXV. 


I  tell  you  this — When,  started  from  the  Goal,  ^ 
Over  the  flaming  shoulders  of  the  .Foal 

Of  Heav'n  Parwin  and  Mushtari  they  flung,  & 
In  my  predestin'd  Plot  of  Dust  and  Soul 


36  RUBAIYAT   OF 


LXXVI. 


The  Vine  had  struck  a  fibre  :  which  about 
If  clings  my  Being — let  the  Dervish  flout  ; 

Of  my  Base  metal  may  be  filed  a  Key, 
That  shall  unlock  the  Door  he  howls  without. 


LXXVII. 


And  this  I  know  :  whether  the  one  True  Light 
Kindle  to  Love,  or  Wrath,  consume  me  quite, 

One  Flash  of  It  within  the  Tavern  caught 
Better  than  in  the  Temple  lost  outright. 


L  XX  VIII. 


What  !  out  of  senseless  Nothing  to  provoke 
A  conscious  Something  to  resent  the  yoke     ;  / 

Of  unpermitted  Pleasure,  under  pain        '• 
Of  Everlasting  Penalties,  if  broke  ! 


LXXIX. 


What,  from  his  helpless  Creature  be  repaid 
Pure  Gold  for  what  he  lent  us  dross-allay'd — 

Sue  for  a  Debt  we  never  did  contract, 
And  cannot  answer — Oh  the  sorry  trade  ! 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  37 


LXXX. 


Oh  Thou,  who  didst  with  pitfall  and  with  gin 
Beset  the  Road  I  was  to  wander  in, 

Thou  wilt  not  with  Predestin'd  Evil  round 
Enmesh,  and  then  impute  my  Fall  to  Sin  ! 


LXXXI. 

Oh,  Thou,  who  Man  of  baser  Earth  didst  make 
And  ev'n  with  Paradise  devise  the  Snake  : 

For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face  of  Man 
Is  blacken' d — Man's  Forgiveness  give — and  take  ! 


LXXXII. 

As  under  cover  of  departing  Day 
Slunk  hunger-  stricken  Eamazan  away, 

Once  more  within  the  Potter's  house  alone 
I  stood,  surrounded  by  the  Shapes  of  Clay. 

LXXXIII. 

Shapes  of  all  Sorts  and  Sises,  great  and  small, 
That  stood  along  the  floor  and  by  the  wall  ; 

And  some  loquacious  Vessels  were  ;  and  some 
Listen'd  perhaps,  but  never  talk'd  at  all. 


38  KlBAIYAT    OF 


L.XXXIV. 


Said  one  among  them — "  Surely  not  in  vain 
My  substance  of  the  common  Earth  was  ta'en 

And  to  this  Figure  moulded,  to  be  broke, 
Or  trampled  back  to  shapeless  Earth  again." 


LXXXV. 


Then  said  a  Second — "  Ne'er  a  peevish  Boy 
Would  break  the  Bowl  from  which  he  drank  in  joy 

And  He  that  with  his  hand  the  Vessel  made 
Will  surely  not  in  after  Wrath  destroy." 


LXXXVI. 


After  a  momentary  silence  spake 
Some  Vessel  of  a  more  ungainly  Make  : 

"  They  sneer  at  me  for  leaning  all  awry  : 
What  !  did  the  Hand  then  of  the  Potter  shake  ?  " 


LXXXVII. 


Whereat  some  one  of  the  loquacious  Lot — 
I  think  a  Sufi  pipkin— waxing  hot — 

"  All  this  of  Pot  and  Potter— Tell  me  then, 
Who  makes— Who  sells— Who  buys— Who  is  the  Pot 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  39 


LXXXVIII. 


"  Why,"  said  another,  "  Some  there  are  who  tell 
Of  one  who  threatens  he  will  toss  to  Hell 

The  luckless  Pots  he  marr'd  in  making — Pish  ! 
He's  a  Good  Fellow,  and  't  will  all  be  well." 


LXXXIX. 


"  Well,"  murmur'd  one,  "  Let  whoso  make  or  buy, 
My  Clay  with  long  Oblivion  is  gone  dry  : 
But  fill  me  with  the  old  familiar  Juice, 
Methinks  I  might  recover  by  and  by." 


xc. 


So  while  the  Vessels  one  by  one  were  speaking, 
The  little  Moon  look'd  in  that  all  were  seeking  :  ffi 

And  then  they  jogg'd  each  other,  "  Brother  !  Brother  ! 
Now  for  the  Porter's  shoulder-knot  a-creaking  !  " 


xci. 


Ah,  with  the  Grape  my  fading  Life  provide, 
And  wash  the  Body  whence  the  Life  has  died, 

And  lay  me,  shrouded  in  the  living  Leaf, 
By  some  not  unfrequented  Garden-side. 


40  RUBAIYAT   OF 


XCII. 

That  ev'n  my  buried  Ashes  such  a  snare 
Of  Vintage  shall  fling  up  into  the  Air 

As  not  a  True-believer  passing  by 
But  shall  be  overtaken  unaware. 


XCIII. 

Indeed,  the  Idols  I  have  loved  so  long 

Have  done  my  credit  in  Men's  eyes  much  wrong  : 

Have  drown' d  my  Glory  in  a  shallow  Cup, 
And  sold  my  Reputation  for  a  Song. 


xcrv. 

Indeed,  indeed,  Repentance  oft  before 
I  swore — but  was  I  sober  when  I  swore  ? 

And  then  and  then  came  Spring,  and  Rose-in-hand 
My  thread-bare  Penitence  apieces  tore. 


xcv. 

And  much  as  Wine  has  play'd  the  Infidel, 
And  robb'd  me  of  my  Robe  of  Honor — Welh 

I  wonder  often  what  the  Vintners  buy 
One  half  so  precious  as  the  stuff  they  sell. 


OMAR  KHAYYAM.  41 


xcvi. 


Yet  Ah,  that  Spring  should  vanish  with  the  Rose  ! 
That  Youth's  sweet-scented  manuscript  should  close  ! 

The  Nightingale  that  in  the  branches  sang — 
Ah  whence,  and  whither  flown  again,  who  knows  ! 


xcvu. 


Would  but  the  Desert  of  the  Fountain  yield 
One  glimpse — if  dimly,  yet  indeed,  reveal' d, 

To  which  the  fainting  Traveller  might  spring, 
As  springs  the  trampled  herbage  of  the  field  ! 


XCVIII. 


Would  but  some  winged  Angel  ere  too  late 
Arrest  the  yet  unfolded  Roll  of  Fate, 

And  make  the  stern  Recorder  otherwise 
Enregister,  or  quite  obliterate  ! 


» 

XCIX. 


Ah  Love  !  could  you  and  I  with  Him  conspire 
To  grasp  this  sorry  Scheme  of  Things  entire, 
Would  not  we  shatter  it  to  bits — and  then 
Re-mould  it  nearer  to  the  Heart's  Desire  ! 


41'  RUBAIYAT   OF   O.MAR    KHAYYAM. 


Yon  rising  Moon  that  looks  for  us  again — 
How  oft  hereafter  will  she  wax  and  wane  ; 

How  oft  hereafter  rising  look  for  us 
Through  this  same  Garden — and  for  one  in  vain  ! 


And  when  like  her,  oh  Sdki,  you  shall  pass 

Among  the  Guests  Star  -scatter'  d  on  tW  Grass,  / 

And  in  your  blissful  errand  reach  the  spot 
AVLere  I  made  One  —  turn  down  an  empty  Glass  ! 


TAMAM. 


NOTES. 


1  THE  "  False  Dawn  ;  "  Subhi  Kdzib,  a  transient  Light  on  the 
Horizon  about  an  hour  before  the  Subhi  sddik,  or  True  Dawn ;  a 
well-known  Phenomenon  in  the  East. 

2  New  Year.     Beginning  with  the  Vernal  Equinox,  it  must  be 
remembered;  and   (howsoever  the  old   Solar  Year  is  practically 
superseded  by  the  clumsy  Lunar  Year  that  dates  from  the  Mo- 
hammedan Hijra)  still  commemorated  by  a  Festival  that  is  said 
to  have  been  appointed  by  the  very  Jamshyd  whom  Omar  so  often 
talks  of,  and  whose  yearly  Calendar  he  helped  to  rectify. 

"  The  sudden  approach  and  rapid  advance  of  the  Spring,"  says 
Mr.  Binning,  "  are  very  striking.  Before  the  Snow  is  well  off  the 
Ground,  the  Trees  burst  into  Blossom,  and  the  Flowers  start  from 
the  Soil.  At  Naw  Rooz  (their  New  Year's  Day)  the  Snow  was 
lying  in  patches  on  the  Hills  and  in  the  shaded  Valleys,  while  the 
Fruit-trees  in  the  Garden  were  budding  beautifully,  and  green 
Plants  and  Flowers  springing  upon  the  Plains  on  every  side — 

"  '  And  on  old  Hyenas'  Chin  and  icy  Crown 
An  odorous  Chaplet  of  sweet  Summer  buds 
Is,^as  in  mockery,  set—'  — 

Among  the  Plants  newly  appear 'd  I  recognized  some  Acquaint- 
ances I  had  not  seen  for  many  a  Year :  among  these,  two  varieties 
of  the  Thistle ;  a  coarse  species  of  the  Daisy,  like  the  Horse- 
gowan ;  red  and  white  Clover ;  the  Dock ;  the  blue  Corn-flower ; 
and  that  vulgar  Herb  the  Dandelion  rearing  its  yellow  crest  on  the 
Banks  of  the  Watercourses."  The  Nightingale  was  not  yet  heard, 
for  the  Rose  was  not  yet  blown :  but  an  almost  identical  Black- 
bird and  Woodpecker  helped  to  make  up  something  of  a  North- 
country  Spring. 

3  Exodus  iv.  6 ;  where  Moses  draws  forth  his  Hand— not,  ac- 
cording to  the  Persians,  "  leprous  as  Snow," — but  white,  as  our 


44  NOTES. 

May-blossom   in  Spring  perhaps.     According  to  them  also  the 
Healing  Power  of  Jesus  resided  in  his  Breath. 

4  Irani,  planted  by  King  Shadd&d,  and  now  sunk  somewhere  in 
the  Sands  of  Arabia.     Jamshyd's  Seven-ringed  Cup  was  typical 
of  the  7  Heavens.  7  Planets,  7  Seas,  etc.,  and  was  a  Divining  Cup. 

5  Pthleui,  the  old  Heroic  Sanskrit  of  Persia.     Hdfiz  also  speaks 
of  the  Nightingale's  Pehkvi,  which  did  not  change  with  the  Peo- 
ple's. 

6  I  am  not  sure  if  this  refers  to  the  Red  Rose  looking  sickly,  or 
the  Yellow  Rose  that  ought  to  be  Red ;  Red,  White,  and  Yellow 
Roses  all  common  in  Persia.     I  think  Southey,  in  his  Common- 
Place  Book,  quotes  from  some  Spanish  author  about  Rose  being 
White  till  10  o'clock ;  "  Rosa  Perfects  "  at  2 ;  and  "  perfecta  in- 
carnada  "  at  5. 

7  Rustum;   the   "Hercules"  of  Persia,   and  Zal  his  Father, 
whose  exploits  are  among  the  most  celebrated  in  the  Shdh-nama. 
Hatim  Tai,  a  weli-known  Type  of  Oriental  Generosity. 

I  Drum — beaten  outside  a  Palace. 
•'  That  is,  the  Rose's  Golden  Centre. 

10  Persepolis:  call'd  also  Takht'i  Jamshyd—TnE  THRONE  OF 
JA.MSHYB,  "  King  Splendid,"  of  the  mythical  Peeshdddian  Dynasty, 
and  supposed  (according  to  the  Shah-n&ma)  to  have  been  founded 
and  built  by  him.  Others  refer  it  to  the  Work  of  the  Genie  King, 
Jan  Ibn  J&n — who  also  built  the  Pyramids — before  the  time  of 
Adam. 

BAHRAM  GUR — Bahrain  of  the  Wild  Ass — a  Sassanian  Sovereign 
— had  also  his  Seven  Castles  (like  the  King  of  Bohemia!)  each  of 
a  different  Colour ;  each  with  a  Royal  Mistress  within ;  each  of 
whom  tells  him  a  Story,  as  told  in  one  of  the  most  famous  Poems 
of  Persia,  written  by  Anifr  Khusraw :  all  these  Sevens  also  figur- 
ing (according  to  Eastern  Mysticism)  the  Seven  Heavens;  and 
perhaps  the  Book  itself  that  Eighth,  into  which  the  mystical 
Seven  transcend,  and  within  which  they  revolve.  The  Ruins  of 
Three  of  these  Towers  are  yet  shown  by  the  Peasantry :  as  also 
the  Swamp  in  which  Bahr&m  sunk,  like  the  Master  of  Ravens- 
wood,  while  pursuing  his  Gur. 


O3F  TH* 

UNIVERSITY 

NOTES.  S^j  45. 

The  Palace  that  to  Heav'n  his  pillars  threw, 
And  Kings  the  forehead  on  his  threshold  drew— 

I  saw  the  solitary  Ringdove  there, 
And  "  Coo,  coo,  coo,"  she  cried  ;  and  "  Coo,  coo,  coo." 

This  Quatrain  Mr.  Binning  found,  among  several  of  Hdfiz  and 
others,  inscribed  by  some  stray  hand  among  the  ruins  of  Persepo- 
lis.  The  Ringdove's  ancient  Pehlevi  Coo,  Coo,  Coo,  signifies  also 
in  Persian"  Where?  Where?  Where?"  In  Attar's  "Bird-parlia- 
ment "  she  is  reproved  by  the  Leader  of  the  Birds  for  sitting  still , 
and  for  ever  harping  on  that  one  note  of  lamentation  for  her  lost 
Yiisuf. 

Apropos  of  Omar's  Red  Roses  in  Stanza  xix,  I  am  reminded  of 
an  old  English  Superstition,  that  our  Anemone  Pulsatilla,  or  pur- 
ple "Pasque  Flower"  (which  grows  plentifully  about  the  Fleam 
Dyke,  near  Cambridge),  grows  only  where  Danish  blood  has  been 
spilt. 

11  A  thousand  years  to  each  Planet. 

12  Saturn,  Lord  of  the  Seventh  Heaven. 

13  ME-AND-THEE  :  some  dividual  Existence  or  Personality  dis- 
tinct from  the  Whole. 

14  One  of  the  Persian  Poets — Attdr,  I  think — has  a  pretty  story 
about  this.     A  thirsty  Traveller  dips  his  hand  into  a  Spring  of 
Water  to  drink  from.     By  and  by  comes  another  who  draws  up 
and  drinks  from  an  earthen  Bowl,  and  then  departs,  leaving  his 
Bowl  behind  him.    The  first  Traveller  takes  it  up  for  another 
draught ;  but  is  surprised  to  find  that  the  same  water  which  had 
tasted  sweet  from  his  own  hand  tastes  bitter  from  the  earthen 
Bowl.    But  a  Voice — from  Heaven,  I  think — tells  him  the  Clay 
from  which  the  Bowl  is  made  was  once  Man  ;  and,  into  whatever 
shape  renew'd,  can  never  lose  the  bitter  flavour  of  Mortality. 

!5  The  custom  of  throwing  a  little  Wine  on  the  ground  before 
drinking  still  continues  in  Persia,  and  perhaps  generally  in  the 
East.  Monsieur  Nicolas  considers  it  "  un  signe  de  libe'ralite^  et 
en  meme  temps  un  avertissement  que  le  buveur  doit  vider  sa 
coupe  jusqu'a  la  derniere  goutte."  Is  it  not  more  likely  an  an- 
cient Superstition ;  a  Libation  to  propitiate  Earth,  or  make  her 
an  Accomplice  in  the  illicit  Revel?  Or,  perhaps,  to  divert  the 
Jealous  Eye  by  some  sacrifice  of  superfluity,  as  with  the  Ancients 


46  NOTES. 

of  the  "West  ?  With  Omar  we  see  something  more  is  signified ; 
the  precious  Liquor  is  not  lost,  but  sinks  into  the  ground  to  re- 
fresh the  dust  of  some  poor  Wine -worshiper  foregone. 

Thus  Ha"fiz,  copying  Omar  in  so  many  ways :  "When  thou 
drinkest  Wine  pour  a  draught  on  the  ground.  Wherefore  fear  the 
Sin  which  brings  to  another  Gain?  " 

i''  According  to  one  beautiful  Oriental  Legend,  Azrael  accom- 
plishes his  mission  by  holding  to  the  nostril  an  Apple  from  the 
Tree  of  Life. 

This,  and  the  two  following.  Stanzas  would  have  been  with- 
drawn, as  somewhat  de  trop,  from  the  Text  but  for  advice  which  I 
least  like  to  disregard. 

i~  From  M&h  to  Ma"hi ;  from  Fish  to  Moon. 

18  A  Jest,  of  course,  at  his  Studies.  A  curious  mathematical 
Quatrain  of  Omar's  has  been  pointed  out  to  me ;  the  more  curious 
because  almost  exactly  parallel'd  by  some  Verses  of  Doctor 
Donne's,  that  are  quoted  in  Izaak  Walton's  Lives!  Here  is 
Omar  :  "  You  and  I  are  the  image  of  a  pair  of  compasses ;  though 
we  have  two  heads  (sc.  our  feet)  we  have  one  body;  when  we 
have  fixed  the  center  for  our  circle,  we  bring  our  heads  (sc.  feet) 
together  at  the  end."  Dr.  Donne : 

If  we  be  two,  we  two  are  so 

As  stiff  twin- compasses  are  two  ; 
Thy  Soul,  the  fixt  foot,  makes  no  show 

To  move,  but  does  if  the  other  do. 

And  though  thine  in  the  centre  sit, 

Yet  when  my  other  far  does  roam, 
Thine  leans  and  barkens  after  it, 

And  grows  erect  as  mine  comes  home. 

Such  thou  must  be  to  me,  who  must 

Like  the  other  foot  obliquely  run  ; 
Thy  firmness  makes  my  circle  just. 

And  me  to  end  where  I  begun. 

19  The  Seventy-two  Religions  supposed  to  divide  the  World, 
including  Islamism,  as  some  think:  but  others  not. 

20  Alluding  to  Sultan  Mahmud's  Conquest  of  India  and  its  dark 
people. 


NOTES.  47 

21  Fdnusi  khiydl,   a  Magic-lanthorn  still   used  in  India;  the 
cylindrical  Interior  being  painted  with  various  Figures,  and  so 
lightly  poised  and  ventilated  as  to  revolve  round  the  lighted  Can- 
dle within. 

22  A  very  mysterious  Line  in  the  Original  : 

0  danad  O  danad  0  danad  O  - 

breaking  off  something  like  our  Wood-pigeon's  Note,  which  she  is 
said  to  take  up  just  where  she  left  off. 

23  Par  win  and  Mush  tar  i  —  The  Pleiads  and  Jupiter. 

24  This  relation  of  Pot  and  Potter  to  Man  and  his  Maker  figures 
far  and  wide  in  the  Literature  of  the  World,  from  the  time  of  the 
Hebrew  Prophets  to  the  present  ;  when  it  may  finally  take  the 
name  of  "  Pottheism,"  by  which  Mr.  Carlyle  ridiculed  Sterling's 
"Pantheism."     bfy  Sheikh,  whose  knowledge  flows  in  from  all 
quarters,  writes  to  me  — 

'•'  Apropos  of  old  Omar's  Pots,  did  I  ever  tell  you  the  sentence  I 
found  in  'Bishop  Pearson  on  the  Creed'  ?"  "Thus  are  we 
wholly  at  the  disposal  of  His  will,  and  our  present  and  future  con- 
dition, framed  and  ordered  by  His  free,  but  wise  and  just,  decrees. 
"  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay,  of  the  same  lump  to  make 
one  vessel  unto  honour,  and  another  unto  dishonour?  "  (Rom.  ix.  21.) 
And  can  that  earth-artificer  have  a  freer  power  over  his  brother 
potsherd  (both  being  made  of  the  same  metal),  than  God  hath  over 
him,  who,  by  the  strange  fecundity  of  His  omnipotent  power, 
first  made  the  clay  out  of  nothing,  and  then  him  out  of  that?  " 

And  again  —  from  a  very  different  quarter  —  "  I  had  to  refer  the 
other  day  to  Aristophanes,  and  came  by  chance  on  a  curious 
Speaking-pot  story  in  the  Vespae,  which  I  had  quite  forgotten. 


yvvr  TTOTC 
Karea^'  e^ti/ov. 
Tavr'  eya> 
Ov^tvos  ovv  € 
Et#'  r)  2v/8apm?  etTrev,  et  vat  rav  KOpav 
TYJV  fuipTvpiav  Tavrrjv  eatras,  lv 
€7r/ota>,  vovv  av  et 


48  NOTES. 

"The  Pot  calls  a  bystander  to  be  a  witness  to  his  bad  treat- 
ment. The  woman  says,  'If,  by  Proserpine,  instead  of  all  this 
*  testifying  '  (comp.  Cnddie  and  his  mother  in  '  Old  Mortality! ') 
you  would  buy  yourself  a  trivet,  it  would  show  more  sense  in 
you!'  The  Scholiast  explains  echinus  us  ayyos  TL  CK  /cepa/xov. 

:  the  Close  of  the  Fasting  Month,  Ramazan  (which  makes 
the  Musulman  unhealthy  and  unamiable),  the  first  Glimpse  of 
the  New  Moon  (who  rules  their  division  of  the  Year),  is  looked 
for  with  the  utmost  Anxiety,  and  hailed  with  Acclamation.  Then 

it  is  that  the  Porter's  Knot  may  be  heard — toward  the  Cellar. 

Omar  has  elsewhere  a  pretty  Quatrain  about  this  same  Moon — 

"  Be  of  Good  Cheer— the  sullen  Month  will  die, 
And  a  young  Moon  requite  us  by  and  by  : 

Look  how  the  Old  one,  meagre,  bent,  and  wan 
With  Age  and  Fast,  is  fainting  from  the  Sky  ! " 


FINIS. 


GENERAL  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA— BERKELEY 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or  on  the 

date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


SB 


1960 

• 


X 

REC'D  LD 

JUL  2  3  1959 

JUN  9    1960     iy 

fcEC'D  LD 

WAV  31  I960 

LD  21-100m-l, '54(1887sl6)476 


tai 


U.C.BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


5     ••' 


OF  <CAI4FORNIA  ^IBRARY 


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